CORPUS CHRISTI - Their debut album "Pardon Me" is showing rock fans from all over just how hard the Dallas-based band Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights can really hit.

It's also giving rock fans a taste of the group's unique blend of rhythm and blues, rock and a little Southern-fried soul.

The five-member band, which includes Tyler, Jordan Cain, Nick Jay, Brandon Pinckard and Emotion "Mo" Brown, perform songs written from real world experiences.

"Paint Me a Picture" was penned after the drug-related death of one of Tyler's closest friends; "Devil's Basement" was written about a battle with drug addiction and "Young & Free" is a song inspired by the band's decision to break away from a future of conformity and to instead hold on to those childhood dreams sometimes lost in life's everyday struggles.

"We called it 'Pardon Me' because it's our introduction to the world," Tyler said of the band's first major label release. "It's got a lot of heart and a lot of energy and that's really its appeal."

Last year the band took their razor sharp sound to major gigs like the Austin City Limits Music Festival and were also out on the road with some legends like Kid Rock, ZZ Top, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Deep Purple, all of which, Tyler said, have helped the band get more recognition and a little more love from die-hard rock fans than they might have gotten from touring on their own.

"Pardon Me," which was released in April 2010 under Atlantic Records' subsidiary, F-Stop Music, also has helped put a lot more muscle behind the band, as did the album's producer, Jay Joyce. Joyce is known for his work with groups like Australian pop-rock sensation, Crowded House and Grammy Award-winning Christian rock act, Audio Adrenaline. Joyce also produced Eric Church's 2009 album, "Carolina."

"We really wanted to work with Jay because we liked his previous stuff and liked his vibe and his energy," Tyler said. "It really wasn't much of a decision because we all knew we wanted to go with him."

Now that its freshman album with a major league hitter is out there, Tyler said the band will continue to tour and write songs for another project which should be released sometime next year.

Until the time comes for more recording sessions in the studio, Tyler and his Northern Lights will keep making their musical introductions to fans everywhere they go.

"We're going to continue to tour and put out albums," Tyler said. "I don't think it will change that much, except we're going to keep getting more people into our shows. I think we just want to keep making music and playing live and touring. We're just gonna keep doing what we're doing."